It was a year full of surprises at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Hip-hop hermit Nas made a rare onstage appearance with the Beastie Boys; Bruce Springsteen honored an odd request of Santa Claus is Coming to Town in mid-June and also...

When Chuck D put forth the famous rhetorical question of How low can you go? in regards to bass, he never could have imagined how much low end could be produced when three of the worlds greatest electric bassists brought their heads together on stage.

A long and fruitful relationship between Winston- Salems handful of live music venues and Americana raconteurs the Felice Brothers (www.myspace.com/ thefelicebrothers) witnessed its latest chapter at the Garage last Sunday, as the increasingly popular troubadours made a visit to the venue amidst another packed house.

It most assuredly happened unintentionally, but two of the most popular live music venues in Greensboro went toe-to-toe over the weekend with two acts of undeniable similarities both led by remarkably charismatic frontmen, both backed by first-class collections of musicians and both just as downright funky as they could be.

For a guy whose music hasn't really set the world on fire since his debut album, Snoop Dogg sure does have an impeccable sense of public relations.

Carolina Blues Festival on Saturday was all blue skies and blues licks until around 5 p.m. when Mother Nature challenged the tenacity of hundreds of music lovers.

There might be an unanticipated item on the Greensboro City Councils agenda at the May 19 meeting, as there seems to be a pervasive movement in place to rename the city to Steensboro. There were more than 18,000 rabid Bruce Springsteen fans at the Greensboro Coliseum on May 2, poised to take the suggestion on one attendees sign to referendum.

Despite having at best a rudimentary command of the English language, French-Algerian singer/songwriter Rachid Taha was unreserved and utterly enthralling in his performance before an abundant audience of Duke coeds and international music fans.

Early indications point to the largest crowd ever to attend the Shakori Hills Grass Roots Festival in Silk Hope, as clear skies and warm weather made for ideal picking conditions. That said, heres a rundown of the events between my arrival Friday afternoon and departure Sunday evening.

Veterans of this scene know what to expect: entire families spilling out of modified school buses; chemically enhanced vagrants twirling around to the music in their heads; two-dollar beers from the bottom of the cooler; and plenty of scrumptious hippie cuisine with suspect ingredients.